Silvereye and Eucalyptus – Miniature Watercolour Bird Painting – 15x15cms – Original is SOLD
Continuing my current series, ‘Silvereye and Eucalyptus’ is my latest 15x15cm miniature watercolour bird painting to come to life. Two more beautiful subjects, I am looking forward to playing with the challenge of gum blossoms, so notoriously difficult to do well in watercolour!
The background on this little painting is a combination of Phillip and Sharon Start’s sweet Silvereye photo and my own referencing of the gum blossom, making such a sweet combination. On a long road trip south from my home to the next state, the highway was lined with these flowering gums for hours upon hours, my friend, knowing me well, pulled off and on, off and on the freeway over and over again knowing my thoughts and yearning with each flush of pink.
Without a word spoken, Id leap out of the car, semitrailers whizzing by us just feet from our bodies, clambering embankments, scaling precarious terrain, climbing each eucalyptus to gather reference as best I could before leaping back into the cocoon of the car… to find the next… of course. The dash of the car soon filled up with specimens and gatherings, lens caps and the likes, but thats pretty standard in my company of course.
Having created a couple of small botanical illustrations of this wonderful tree lately, one for the Victorian Government and another commercial client, i wanted to explore it as a far more complex background in a bird piece. Its a very popular plant for so many of us, no surprise at all there I think!
Eucalyptus / Flowering Gum Blossom botanical illustration created for the Victorian Government, an incredibly popular piece!
So getting started, Ive incorporated the sweet little silvereye to my road trip gatherings to create a layout for this bird painting, and we begin as always, with the pencil drawing. I have just enough detail in the drawing to prompt my memory for the painting process, and with a nice clear, precise plan forward, I am ready to get the brushes wet, yayeee! Thanks for following
The initial pencil drawing
A long studio day spent creeping carefully in, out and delicately around these gum blossoms sees the right side of this painting slowly emerging. I have a lot more to go before it takes shape, but its a sweet beginning for now
Ive completed the bulk of the background and branches, and now Ill start rendering the leaves in before returning to the gum blossoms to refine the detailing in this element. Another haul ahead for me today getting the background finished, but the weather is cold, wet, windy and wintery out there today so i am happily lost in my snug little studio with this piece today!
With the gum leaves and the little Silvereye in, this watercolour painting is complete!
The original is now SOLD, but please let me know if youd like to discuss a similar commission, thank you.
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